Tag Archives: fba

With annual ocean shipping hauling in $350 billion a year in revenue, there is good reason why Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is interested in the business. E-commerce leader Amazon is planning to launch a global shipping and logistics operation that will compete directly with UPS ( UPS ) and FedEx ( FDX ), Bloomberg reported Tuesday, saying it had reviewed documents for the plan, called “Dragon Boat.” Bloomberg wrote that the new operations would expand Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA), which provides storage, packing and shipment of goods from third-party sellers. Such sellers make up a significant portion of its e-tail growth. An ocean shipping business alone could generate substantial returns — more than $100 million in free cash flow, Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen told IBD. That’s assuming the goods would be ingested into FBA’s supply chain — which aims to eventually squeeze out the middlemen, paperwork and headaches from logistics and delivery. The cost savings Amazon expects to see by owning the supply chain end to end, and the charges it could levy third-party sellers (or other merchants) would generate that free cash flow, generally defined as cash generated by operations minus capital expenditures. “It’s attractive for Chinese merchants to get into Fulfillment By Amazon centers right now,” Petersen told IBD. “Even with my conservative model, which would not make Amazon a large freight forwarder (though) less than a fraction of 1% of the overall ocean shipping business, it could easily earn more than $100 million in free cash flow.” Peterson says Amazon’s 90 or so fulfillment centers in the U.S. would easily be able to handle 450 containers every week. (The number of fulfillment centers is from Flexport’s data, Amazon does not disclose that). Based on current shipping costs, that would easily net Amazon $100 million in free cash flow, Petersen says. His estimate also assumes ocean shipping prices dig themselves out of the current slump. Rates are about half of what Petersen expects in the long run. San Francisco-based Flexport provides software and expertise that simplifies the international shipping process. Alibaba, Amazon Competition Grows The Bloomberg story said Amazon’s Dragon Boat program also will pit against its Chinese counterpart Alibaba ( BABA ) to gain share of cross-border e-commerce, which is expected to grow to $2 trillion by 2020. The world’s largest retailer , Wal-Mart ( WMT ), already does something similar when it takes possession of freight in China. But Wal-Mart doesn’t re-sell the freight shipping service, and Amazon might, according to analysts. Wal-Mart did not return requests for comment. Southington, Conn.-based Ocean Audit founder Steve Ferreira agrees with Petersen that ocean shipping could be lucrative for Amazon, and he says the company could well disrupt the shipping market. Ocean Audit specializes in detecting errors in ocean freight billing errors. The fact that Amazon last August filed initial paperwork for what might be the Chinese-side of Amazon’s ocean shipping division, Ferreira told IBD, suggests to him that the company is far along in developing its shipping operations. Amazon Would Be ‘Game Changer’ Ferreira calls Amazon’s potential entry into the ocean freight business a “stunning game changer.” He says the Seattle-based e-commerce firm could “theoretically enter the market and start moving goods at below the current market cost.” Amazon might well be gearing up to do just that. Ferreira says he believes Cong Pan , a Beijing-based Amazon attorney, is getting all the “paperwork” for Amazon Ocean set up. He says Beijing-based Amazon Vice President Brian Xue would run the ocean freight operation. Amazon did not return requests for comment. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has often repeated his mantra of putting customers before profits. Additional free cash flow could be used to lower the cost of Amazon’s goods or begin to offer essentially free parcel shipping for shoppers willing to wait, says Peterson. “If I had to read the mind of Jeff Bezos, he might not go after the free cash flow,” Petersen said. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian agrees with Petersen’s assessment. “I would caution that Amazon likes to use projects and other things to subsidize its core business,” Sebastian told IBD. “Amazon might not see any free cash flow because it would be absorbed into other businesses.” Sebastian says  he expects Amazon will move in stages into the transportation and logistics sector. “Amazon takes an incremental approach to new businesses, and they’re not going to create a competitor to DHL right away,” he said. But Sebastian says he sess enormous potential. “There’s a lot of potential disruption,” he said, “if Amazon plays its cards right.”